Final Day in Scotland

It was tough to say good-bye to that lovely view this morning, but we knew the stay was only for one night.  We just didn't know how awesome the Dryburgh Abbey Hotel would be.

Marty was able to get out in the morning to try his hand at more fly fishing, but luck was not with him.  He still had fun, though, and is already planning a future trip.  I'm not quite sure who is going with him, though.

Since it was nearing the end of our trip, I really didn't have any plans, but mentioned a botanical garden that was on our way, and Marty thought that was a great idea. 

I'll be honest.  I expected to see azaleas and rhododendrons in their full glory.  But such was not the case. 

In a week or two, they will certainly be amazing visitors, but not today.

However, a real gem greeted us from the gardens:  Blue Poppies!

How amazing is that?  My friend, Kathy, had recently made a trip to Longwood Gardens and had posted that she had seen these unusual poppies, but they were at their peak and would no longer be in bloom for us to see them in the US.  

That made this find even more exciting! One of the locals mentioned that he felt that they must have been subject to frost, as they were all holding their petals downward instead of upward.  What did I know?  I figured they were supposed to be that way!

After all, it was my very first time seeing them. 

The location of these blue beauties in in Dawyck Garden, which is now a regional garden of the Royal Botanical Garden of Edinburgh.  The history goes back to the 17th century when a family by the name of Veitch began planting various species to enhance their family home.  They created a woodland oases on the hillside and one can see the house through the trees that have grown all these years since.  

The house changed owners several times, with each devoted to enhancing the gardens.  In 1897, the Balfour family introduced North American trees, compliments of David Douglas, for whom the Douglas Fir is named. Rhododendrons from China were also brought to the estate to be planted, and most of them still stand all these years later. 

Here you can see a giant Redwood, compliments of David Douglas. 

A row of trees standing along the Beech walk

a wild apple tree in bloom

and several interesting ground cover florals. 

Here you se a money tree standing just in front of a rhododendron on the verge of blooming.

There was a lovely stream that stretched for quite some distance, offering some lovely, tranquil views of small waterfalls along the way.

Near a bank of trees introduced to Dawyck by Douglas stands what appears to be a statue of a First Nations Figure.  It is actually a carving made from a beech tree that had fallen near this spot.  In 2013, a local chainsaw carver from the village of Moffit, performed his handiwork that resulted in this spectacular figure that is 8 foot high. 

Before leaving, I took one last photo of a grouping of blue poppies standing in front of a rhododendron waiting to bloom.  

After all, who knows when I'll have the opportunity to see another?

We headed into Peebles, just for a short walk, 

and our last cream tea of the visit.

Let me just mention that is REAL clotted cream and REAL homemade strawberry jam.  It was the perfect ending to the trip!  Marty mentioned to Julie, the owner, how much he enjoyed the scone, and she started rambling off the recipe to him.  She then asked me for my email, and told me that she'd be happy to send it to me!  Now, how lucky is that? 

I just checked, and sure enough, she has done just that!  

We've been through Peebles several times over the years.  It has to be one of the most picturesque villages sitting along the river Tweed, don't you think?

We headed to South Queensferry where we are tucked into a ground floor room on the back of Hawes Inn.  No bridge view this time, but that's OK.  We head out early in the morning for our flight, and watching the trains go past might be a bit distracting.

We'll just have to be satisfied with hearing them instead.

Our fabulous trip is coming to an end.  I do hope that you enjoyed following along.  

Until next time.....

 

 

Yorkshire Sunshine & Waterfalls

 We checked out of our B&B this morning, and headed out through the gorgeous Yorkshire Dales on our way north to Scotland.  Traveling along the rolling hills, lined with stone fences and sheep grazing in the fields, felt like we were driving through a picture post card.  

Just one glorious scene after another.

We made our way to the Aysgarth Falls visitor center as part of our adventure today.  It is a hidden retreat accessible by narrow winding roads, making it even more delightful.  Once we made the turn at the sign, we came across a large parking lot, visitor center with a tea room, and public bathrooms (always an advantage, particularly when gallivanting through unpopulated territory!) 

We headed to the lower falls first, which was a very short distance from the parking lot.

I find the roar of the falls to be quite tranquil.  The power of the water rushing through is actually quite amazing as the water upstream wasn't really moving fast.   We were actually able to get relatively close to admire the beauty.

Moving on, we walked back to the parking lot, then in the opposite direction, across the road, to another path that led to the middle falls.  Once again, the image before us could easily have been printed up on a post card. 

Note the church steeple in the upper middle part of the photo. It really doesn't get much better than that!

But we continued along the trail to see what the Upper Falls might have to offer.  This was a bit further, about half a mile further down the path,  and was a tad more challenging regarding the terrain. 

Along the way, this carved bench intrigued me.

And I was completely surprised to see a Haiku carved upon its back.

Ancient Pasture

filled with flowers, sheep & cattle

enrich the soil

Quite nice, although one might note that we saw few flowers and absolutely no sheep and cattle on this walk.  But the sentiment would certainly apply to much of what we drove through so far today.

A little ways further, down some steps, around the corner, more steps, and there we were....at the Upper Falls.

Did I mention that it was amazing?

We've hiked to a few waterfalls in some of our gallivanting escapades, and I must admit that these were the easiest to access.  The National Park has really gone out of their way to design the paths to make viewing these wonders less challenging than most.  And I certainly did appreciate that!

We had quite a bit of distance to cover, so we headed north, and finally made it to the hotel around 4:15 pm.  

We were greeted at the desk by Martin, who had a very thick Scottish brogue that brought back so many happy memories of our times here in this beautiful country.  And he was so welcoming, which actually is pretty standard here in Scotland. 

It didn't take long for Marty to learn that he can fish on the River Tweed that runs along the hotel property.  When he mentioned to Martin that he didn't have any waders, Martin responded, "No worries....I'm sure we have a pair here that you can borrow that will fit you."  Honestly!  How awesome is that?  And, you can be certain that Marty jumped on that offer!

But first, we decided to head up to the room with our bags.  The staircase was definitely unique.

As was the plaque on the door. 

This might just be nirvana for Marty.

The room was huge and had a lovely view of the river.

 Which meant that I could sit by the window and relax, while keeping an eye on Mr. Yinzer Fisherman.

He was living his dream.

I decided to venture out for a bit to see if I could get a glimpse of Dryburgh Abbey, which is located right next door to the hotel.  I couldn't get close to it, as there is a high stone wall separating the properties, but I did manage to capture a photo. 

Beautiful!

We enjoyed a lovely dinner in the hotel restaurant, overlooking the Tweed.  Marty did not catch any trout, but he did see plenty teasing him.  So, he plans to get up early and try again in the morning.  We only have one night here, so he might as well make the best of it, right?  

Here's hoping I have some exciting developments to share tomorrow!

I'll keep you posted!

Another Gallivanting Adventure in the UK

Here we are once again, on the edge of Scotland, beginning yet another adventure as we make our way southwest to Wales. And, to add to the excitement, we are in the midst of the country celebrating the coronation of King Charles III.  There are festive banners hanging in village shops and pubs in preparation of the anticipated event this weekend. The mood of the country is far different than our last trip, and it will certainly be interesting to see what adventures await us.  

In the meantime, we traded very wet, cold weather at home, for cold, cloudy weather here, with a likely chance of showers most days while we are here.  But that won't keep us from having as much fun as we can muster.  We'll be bundling up as we go about gallivanting and, hopefully, we won't get soaked to the bone.

We landed early this morning, picked up the car, and headed to the Scottish Borders to Paxton House.  It is a Palladium mansion which we had never seen, and its location made it just about the perfect distance to drive after just a few hours sleep on our overnight flight. It stands majestically overlooking the River Tweed.

I had scheduled a tour for 11:45 am, and we arrived with minutes to spare, joined by another very entertaining couple who hail from Birmingham.  Graham, our tour guide, was extremely knowledgeable and had an uncanny way of telling the family history in a way that piqued our curiosity as we wanted to learn more. 

But before we even walked through the doors, Graham was sure to mention that this house was the first in Scotland that incorporated a water wheel to aid in pumping water into the house.  John Adam implemented a design that caused the flow of the water to turn the wheel which then activated a pump that pushed the water to a large storage tank at the top of the house. This invention eliminated the need to send servants down to the stream to cart water by hand.  Pretty clever, for sure.

The house, itself,  is considered to be one of the finest preserved homes built in the Palladian style.  Symmetry is one of the key characteristics of this style, and you can easily see how the left and the right extensions to the house mirror each other.

John and James Adams had been commissioned to build the house, as well as decorate the interior. Aside from the fact that these famous men were involved in the design and building of this country home, Paxton house is known for its large collection of Chippendale holdings. 

The interior of the house was quite remarkable.  Photos were not permitted, but we found ourselves admiring countless pieces of unique Chippendale furniture, in addition to linens and wall paper made by the same company.  The exterior pink sandstone came from a quarry that stood right on the ground, supplying large bricks that cost the owner virtually nothing. 

Graham then went on to tell the history of this Palladian villa. Patrick Home built the house in 1758, in hopes of bringing the love of his life, Sophia, here to spend their lives as a married couple.  Patrick had met Sophie at the Court of Frederick the Great in Berlin. He professed his love for her and his desire to marry.  The king stipulated that Patrick's entire fortune be transferred to Prussia in exchange for his marriage to Sophie.

Patrick's mother refused to permit the marriage under these circumstances, and she threatened to disinherit him if he went through with the proposal.  So, Patrick went on a world tour, collecting various artifacts over time, and waited for the opportunity to marry Sophie.  That time stretched well over 21 years. (The marriage never was.)   

In the meantime, by 1768, Patrick couldn't bear the thought of living in the villa without Sophie, so he sold the mansion to his cousin, Ninian Home. It was Ninian who commissioned the famous Adams brothers, along with the Chippendales, to create the stylish home, which included decorative motifs borrowed from ancient Rome.  Many of the collections of Patrick were stored in the basement for safekeeping, and, amazingly, still exist today in remarkable good condition.  There were items of clothing that he wore at court that look as brilliant as the day he wore them in the mid 1700's!

The home passed to Ninian's younger brother, George Home, who commissioned a wing to the house that holds a library filled with 4000 books, and an amazing portrait gallery, complete with glass domes in the ceiling to offer the necessary light to view the paintings in detail.  Only one of the paintings is original to the house as the entire collection was sold at auction to satisfy death taxes.  The art that fills the room today is entirely on loan from the Scotland Museum.  

In the 1980's the house was donated to the country, and a separate Paxton house trust was created to assure that it would be preserved for the future.

The grounds are fairly extensive, and the River Tweed runs alongside.  Cows rest among daffodils across from the entrance, 

and there are some well maintained flower gardens surrounding the house.

Trees were beginning to bloom

and some are awaiting their spurt of green. 

The exterior of one side of a walled garden features several varieties of fruit trees trained to climb.

Across from the trees stands a sundial, with the crossing bridge in the background, making for a lovely scene. 

A window adorns this side of the wall, which had been rescued from an old building in Edinburgh, sometime in the 1800s. 

Rather clever, if I say so myself. 

There are fields and fields of Rapeseed, alive with color, in this area, and if the sun should happen to peek out from behind a cloud, it offers an even brighter glow!

Our adventures at Paxton were nearly at an end

but not before we stopped into the tea house for a cuppa with a scone, complete with clotted cream and home made jam.

Our first meal of the day!  And it was delightful!  At this point, we decided to head over to our B&B, The Walls, located along the walls of the city which stand along the River Tweed. (Interestingly enough, our room is entitled The Tweed.)

We decided to take a less known route, and check out the Union Chain Bridge, which was only just opened after a year long refurbishment.  The original bridge was opened in July of 1820 and was the first suspension bridge in Scotland designed to carry vehicles.  It has the recognition of being the earliest surviving iron suspension bridge in the world that continues to be used for its purpose. 

The bridge is made of eye-bar wrought iron chains that were designed and patented by Samuel Brown. 

The space between the entrance stones is really quite narrow, as is the driving surface itself as you pass along.  Obviously, only one direction can be traveled at a time, and it can be tricky passing through without knocking the mirrors on either side, but Marty managed without issue. 

The original plaque stands at the one end, embedded at the base of a brick wall.

and a life sized statue of Samuel Brown sits adjacent, with his rolled up plans tucked under his arm.

It was really quite an experience crossing over, and we stopped at the other side to get a closer look.  No worries about too much traffic here!

We checked into our B&B, then headed to dinner to Foxton's wine bar. I had made early reservations, knowing that we'd be exhausted from our overnight flight.  We toasted to the beginning of our newest adventure.

and I splurged and ordered the Sticky Toffee Pudding with Scottish Tablet Ice Cream, and a Salted Caramel Sauce, for dessert.  It was delectable!

The weekend is sure to be an interesting one!

I'll be sure to keep you posted!